Observations: Avalanche Lose Preseason Game To Wild (+)

The Colorado Avalanche lost to the Minnesota Wild tonight 5-2 in their third preseason game in two days. It was a rough game for both teams with a total 13 penalties.

It looked like it was going to be a great start with Alex Newhook getting the first goal early in the first, but former Avalanche Tyson Jost returned the favor with his own goal. Well, two of them actually.

Some thoughts and observations:

Tonight the main issue for the Avalanche was defense. With three of the six defensemen being prospects, positioning became a problem. There were a lot of backdoor opportunities for the Wild with the defensemen in the wrong place and Jost took advantage of it twice on the power play.

Lines for the #Avs tonight #GoAvsGo via @Avalanche pic.twitter.com/aYOLHgU2kd

— Brennan Vogt (@AvsTerritory) September 28, 2022

• Samuel Girard returned to game action for the first time since his chest injury in the playoffs against St. Louis. He said that it “feels good and that I am happy just to get back on the ice.”
• We may end up seeing Girard at least one more time this preseason just to get him some ice time. Other than that he was up to his usual tricks with his stylish skating at the blue line.
• Newhook looks like he wants the job for the second-line center. He was skating hard every shift from the start, with a goal only 19 seconds into the first period.
• Charles Hudon, impressed with his speed to the puck. His willingness to never give up on a play set Martin Kaut up for a goal in the middle slot, giving Kaut a much-needed boost in confidence.
• Sampo Ranta, unfortunately, has been having issues all of training camp, and in tonight’s game, with keeping his stick on the ice. This issue has led to missed opportunities in the neutral zone when getting passes as the puck flies right by him.
• Pavel Francouz had some good moments and some really bad moments tonight. He was having some issues eating up the shots like he normally does, allowing lots of rebounds. In fact, three goals came off of second-chance opportunities.
• Kaut had himself a great night, catching the eye of coach Jared Bednar saying that he was “working hard on the offensive side and the defensive side of the puck.”

It was a night to forget for the Avalanche and will be a quick turnaround with a game tomorrow night in Vegas at 8 PM Mountain Time. Coach Bednar said “We’ll do some cuts tomorrow, some… maybe a lot. Maybe both (before the game and after).”

So there maybe some roster trimming that will happen throughout the day and late into the night. More than likely, they will be the players that were going to be in Utah or Colorado (AHL) anyways. The Avalanche will be doing their morning skate and a flight to Sin City following practice.